Birmingham City Council and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council have successfully bid for £400,000 of government funding to help get people new to the streets the rapid support that they need. The Rough Sleeping Grant will be used to support people by offering them a safe place to sleep, physical and mental health checks and substance misuse screening.  Work will be co-ordinated through a team of nurses, substance misuse workers and housing and support officers and will link to existing outreach and other service providers.

Royal Mail predicts that ‘Take-back Tuesday’ – the first working day in the New Year – will be the busiest day for online shopping returns through the post as shoppers rush to send back unwanted Christmas gifts. On Tuesday 3 January, returns of online purchases are predicted to jump by more than 50 per cent in a single day, versus the average number of return parcels per day in December. 

The charity raffle was the UK’s favourite way to help raise money for good causes in 2016 according to new research published today by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF). Almost one in five of us (19%) have taken part in a charity raffle in the past 12 months - making it the UK’s top fundraising activity of the year. Tea and cake also play a big part in the nation’s charity fundraising efforts, revealed the YouGov poll which was commissioned by CAF.

Wishing all of our readers, advertisers and friends a very Happy New Year from The Phoenix Newspaper - Here's hoping it's the best year for you all!

Relatives of a man who passed away recently are being asked to get in touch with the City of Wolverhampton Council. Robert Thickett, who was a resident in a care home in Bilston, was 77. It is thought he had previously lived in the Selly Oak area of Birmingham. The City of Wolverhampton Council is trying to trace Mr Thickett’s relatives so that his funeral can be arranged.